Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1887-10-20

violate the postal regulations as often as pos
sible. Have you any idea of the number OF
written messages which women send in OF
AS free trader myself have certain
sympathy with smuggling, provided it is car
ried on without downright misrepresentation
and lying. The trouble is that when one at
tempts to get dutiable articles in without
paying the duty on them he must lie little,
an6 we cannot begin practising to deceive in
this matter without suffering certain NOR al
deterioration. There were two ladies who
came over from Europe on the last trip
which l made who actually loaded the backs
of their dresses heavily with valuable cigars
which they were bringing to male members
of their family. They found after they had
prepared themselves that they could not sit
down without smashing the cigars, and they
actually stood up in hack all the way up
town in New York, clinging desperately to
the sides of the carriage to save themselves
from falling, and pulling down the curtains
to avoid exposing their singular proceedings.
This was to me an astonishing amount of
zeal and trouble simply in order to smuggle
something-for the male members of the la
dies family would no doubt be quite as we'll
contented with cigars of their own selection
with those their female relatives might
bring them from Paris. I really believe that
there are women who go abroad chiefly for
the fun and excitement of smuggling some
thing in on their return"
An excellent lady who heard this diatribe
was very indignant and declared that she and
her daughter had been abroad, and had posi-
lively smuggled nothing whatever on their
return.
GAS for me-" she said-she belonged to
the family of gentleman noted for his de-
votion to protectionist principles-'I should
as soon think of stealing as of smuggling" !"
"But, mamma" said her daughter, plain
lively, didn't you know that had twenty
five yards of Irish linen at the bottom of my
trunk?"
''No!" said the mother, in shocked aston
ishment.
'sWell,s L did. told the inspectors, Here's
my trunk open; go for it nowI 1 knew
that if did that way they wouldn't really
overhaul it. And they didn't. They paved
over few innocent things at the top, and
those twenty-five yards of precious linen,
spread out clear at the bottom, slumbered
peacefully without 30 much as a touch"
eff had known that" said the mother,
sternly, ''I should have told the officers"
Which incident shows that the smuggling
incident is hard thing to eradicate, even in
proteetionist families.
Just as the Listener had proceeded to re-
buke the spirit on the part of his friend
which led to his assumption that there is a
disposition on the part of women in general
to evade the postal regulations, a newspaper
from the mail, wrapped and addressed in a
feminine hand, was brought in for him. He
opened it, and from the midst of it there
dropped pretty card of written adieux from
couple of ladies who were just starting on
journey, and who had, incidentally to the
transmission of a newspaper which contained
something they wanted him to read, sent
this written card with both their names
signed upon it. And yet no people in the
world could be more scrupulously honorable
than these two ladies in every relation of
life.
If it is true that women have much less
sense of responsibility in such matters, it is
due perhaps to the fact that the business
contact of men with the world gives them a
habit of compliance with the useful public
regulations which are after all but an ad-
junct to their business. When a woman
writes message on the margin of a news
paper, or encloses written card in its folds,
the chances are that the postal regulations
never for an instant enter her mind She
has not enough contact with them to bring
them very prominently into her conscious
ness. A man, however, has occasion to
learn them and instinctively follow them.